World Bank cuts 2022 global growth outlook on Russia invasion
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The World Bank cut its forecast for global economic expansion this year on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is planning to mobilize a funding package bigger than the Covid-19 response for nations to deal with various resulting and ongoing crises.
The Washington-based institution has lowered its estimate for global growth in 2022 to 3.2% from a January prediction of 4.1%, President David Malpass told reporters on a call on Monday. The decline was spurred by a cut in the outlook for Europe and central Asia, which include Russia and Ukraine, he said. The global forecast for this year compares with 5.7% expansion in 2021, he said.
The World Bank chief said he expects to discuss a new 15-month crisis-response package of about $170 billion to cover April 2022 through June of next year with the bank’s board in coming weeks, with about $50 billion of this amount to be deployed in the next three months.
“This is a continued, massive crisis response given the continuation of the crisis,” he said, adding that the new initiative will exceed the $157 billion mobilized for the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
